Unpalatable solutions: Consumer resistance towards Insect‐Based foods is moderated by uncertainty avoidance
通过元分析和三项实验，发现高不确定性规避文化显著降低消费者尝试昆虫食品的意愿，而感官体验（如品尝蟋蟀粉玉米片）能有效改善负面态度，为食品营销和可持续饮食推广提供策略。
Abstract Traditional livestock meat poses sustainability challenges, while insect proteins offer a low‐impact alternative. Cultural barriers, such as uncertainty avoidance, hinder widespread acceptance of insect‐based foods, despite a growing market. Research on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions towards insect‐based foods yields mixed results, prompting a meta‐analysis to explore cultural influences and contextual factors. This meta‐analysis investigates consumers’ willingness to try insect‐based food products. Analysis of 24 publications (97 studies, with 13,609 observations; participant M age = 34.6), supports the notion that consumers around the world are not readily willing to adopt insect‐based food products. Moderating this effect, at the country level, high uncertainty avoidance negatively affects consumers’ intentions to try insect‐based products. Two follow‐up studies replicate the findings of the meta‐analysis, incorporating an individual‐level assessment of the moderating effect of uncertainty avoidance, and testing the mediating effect of food neophobia on consumers’ (un)willingness to adopt insect‐based food products. A third study provides evidence as how to buffer the negative reactions of consumers towards insect‐based foods: after sensory evaluation of a cricket‐flour nacho in a laboratory setting, participants were more willing to try it and generally evaluated the product and the experience more favorably, compared to their previously stated expectations. Theoretical contributions and practical implications for marketing strategy and communication, to overcome the negative perceptions related to insect‐based food, along with limitations and future research directions, are discussed.